The Mockingjay's Daughter
by auslly4eva22
Summary: 15 years on from the war and there's still so much healing to do. Penny, Katniss and Peeta's 14 year old daughter, knows she'll never really be normal, she'll never get comforted when scared because it's usually always her comforting her mum, she'll never go a day without having cameras shoved in her face, she'll never be able to forget what happened to her parents. Penny's POV
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back again! I made the decision to delete Six Years after I reread it and realized I was cable of writing a MUCH better story, it really was one of my worst and it wasn't proving to be overly popular with you guys either, and I got hit with a better idea to. So please enjoy this story!**

**IMPORTANT: Please note that for the sake of this story we're going to say Katniss and Peeta pretty much had kids straight away. The reason I've done this is because Finnick and Annie's boy is an important character in this and I wanted him to be around the same age as Peeta and Katniss's daughter. **

**Ok I'll shut up now. Read! **

Chapter One

Penny's P.O.V

The time on my clock was 1am when the screaming started.

I lay starring at the celling, my heavy eyelids threatening to close, trying to decide if I could pretend I couldn't hear it.

I could, but that would just be selfish and awful.

"You can't ignore her." Darius said matter-of-factly. He was sitting up on the mattress he was camping out on my floor.

My boyfriend, my best friend, the only one who knew what I was thinking before I did.

"You sure?" I mumbled sleepily, but I was already getting up.

"Positive." He replied, standing up and helping my off my bed.

Hand in hand we left my bedroom and flicked the hall light on.

The screaming was much louder out here then it had been in my room.

Letting Darius lead me, we walked right to the end of the hall to my parent's bedroom. Gently, I opened the door and we went in.

Mum was still asleep, but far from peacefully. She was tossing and turning almost spastically, and her mouth was twisted into a petrified scream.

"Mum! Mum shhh. It's ok." I coaxed, jumping up on to the bed and shaking her awake. Darius hurried to the side of the bed and began to nudge her as well.

Mum shot up and her eyes flung open. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were stab with fear.

"Katniss you're ok." Darius assured. "We're here."

"Peeta!" Mum cried, her eyes frantically darting around the room in a search for my dad. Whether that was because her nightmare had something to do with losing him or she was just shocked he wasn't here comforting her as her usually was I couldn't tell, but either way I knew she wasn't fully awake yet.

"Dad's not here mum." I said softly. "He's at work remember? Remember how the bakery staff asked him to work an overnight shift because the other baker called in sick? He's ok. He's just at work."

Mum shook her head as if she didn't believe me.

"No he's in danger. Snow's captured him. He's hurting him. We have to go!"

She tried to get out of bed but Darius stopped her.

"Katniss it's okay. Snow died almost fifteen years ago. Remember?"

Dad had warned me before he left that mum could be very difficult to persuade after a horrible nightmare, and that she was often trapped in the past and convinced something that happened years and years ago was happening at that very moment.

"He's in danger!" She insisted.

I shot Darius a look, unsure of what to do, my respect for what dad did every single night rocketing.

"Do you want me to call Peeta?" He offered. "You can talk to him. You can see he's safe."

Mum seemed to be calming down a little, but she didn't refuse the offer.

After a few moments silence, she whispered "yes please."

Darius left the room to go and find the phone and I thanked whatever God was listening that I had him here with me.

It had actually been my dad's suggestion to have Darius stay over, even though he'd made it firmly clear after he had gone from being my best friend to my boyfriend that there were no more sleepovers.

Darius and his mother Annie had always been considered family. Mum and dad were both really close to his father Finnick, who was killed in the war before we were born. Poor Darius was used to having his nights as sleepless as his mother's as he was always dealing with her nightmares on his own. His Aunt would visit from District Four whenever she could, but it was rare. Annie had made the choice to move to Twelve about a month before Darius was born to be closer to my mum and dad. Fortunately, her sister was up visiting at the moment so Darius was fine to be away from her for the night.

He returned about a minute later with phone and was punching in the bakery number, which was scrawled on the piece of paper beside the phone, along with a few other phone numbers.

He held the phone to his ear and waited for a few seconds, before he said in a confident voice "hello, Darius Odair speaking. Could I talk to Peeta please?"

Darius took the phone away from his ear and placed in on the bed, then hit loudspeaker.

There were a few shuffling sounds before my dad's voice.

"Hello? Is everything ok?"

"Peeta?" Mum said quickly, as if wanting to confirm it was really him on the phone.

"Yes Katniss I'm here. Are you ok?"

"Are you?" She demanded.

Dad didn't even sound a little surprised at the question.

"I'm absolutely fine. I'm just at work." His voice was calm and full of patience.

He paused.

"Are you ok?" He repeated.

Mum took a deep breath in.

"Yes. I just needed to hear your voice."

"Okay. Where's Penny?"

"Here dad." I answered. "I'm here."

"Alright. Please call me back if you need to. Do you want me to come home? Because I can it's no worries."

Mum shook her head even though dad clearly couldn't see.

"No you stay at work." She insisted. "I'm fine."

"Okay. Remember I'm just down the road. I'm not far."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too. Now try and get a bit of rest. Goodnight to you all."

"Night dad." I said back. "Love you."

And with that the call was ended.

Darius made a move to leave before Katniss called his name.

"Wait." She hesitated, then reached out an arm. "Can I keep the phone?"

Darius smiled and passed her the phone, which she protectively clutched under her arm.

"We'll stay with you." I assured my mother. Darius left the room and a moment later returned with all of the blankets from his mattress. He made himself a makeshift bed on the floor and I tucked myself in to dad's side of the bed.

The cruelty and the trauma my mum had been forced to endure when she was only a couple of years older than me had switched the roles. In this situation it was the children calming down the adult after a horrific nightmare, ensuring them that their safe, offering to stay with them until they fell asleep, instead of the other way around.

And that was the way it was always going to be.

**So what do you guys think? Worth continuing or not?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the positive comments guys!**

Chapter Two

I finally managed to drift off to sleep again at around 2am, but three hours later mum was screaming again.

Darius and I jolted awake at same time.

"Mum!" I began shaking her rapidly. Darius sleepily stumbled to his feet and joined in. "Mum! Shh!"

Mum woke up almost immediately and grabbed a hold of my shoulders.

"Penny?" She hushed, running her hand across my face.

Slightly taken back, I nodded.

"Yes?"

"You're here."

I looked at my boyfriend for support, having hardly ever having dealt with my mother's nightmares and no idea of how to soothe her.

"I'm guessing she had a dream she lost you." He said softly, then looked at my mum. "But she didn't. Because you're sitting right here. Penny's right there Katniss, where's she's been all night, perfectly safe."

Mum studied my face thoroughly, then the panic returned to her eyes.

"Where's your brother?"

"In his room." I told her. "He's safe too. I'll go get him if you'd like."

Mum seemed to be calming down, and she shook her head.

"No let him sleep."

Mum closed her eyes again and drifted out of consciousness. Darius went back to his bed and I laid back down and shut my eyes, but after twenty minutes I knew it was pointless. I climbed back out of bed carefully so as not to wake mum and walked towards the door, kicking my boyfriend in the leg as I passed him.

"The hell was that for?" He hissed at me.

"We're getting up. Move your ass."

He groaned and yanked himself off the ground then followed my out into the hall.

I went to my four year old brother Mitchy's room first. He was contently sleeping, tangled in a mess of blankets and teddy bears.

"I wish I could sleep through as much as he does." I muttered to myself as we headed back towards the stairs.

"Yeah well I wish I had a girlfriend who didn't kick me and drag me out of bed at 5am." Darius responded with a yawn.

"Huh, guess we both struck out then didn't we?"

We went down to the kitchen and straight away I proceeded to gather the ingredients and equipment needed to make blueberry pie, a recipe my years of cooking with dad as a little girl had allowed me to learn off by heart.

"So what do you want to do today?" Darius asked thoughtfully as I began crushing blueberries with a metal clump into a large bowl.

"We have that Mockingjay assignment." I sighed.

Darius let out an arrogant groan.

"Right. Forgot about that. Fun Saturday ahead."

Mockingjay was a class taught at most high schools around Panem, exclusively for children with family that either died in or survived any of the 75 Hunger Games. Once a week while everyone else had history, we were studying the war, the Games, the rebellion etc and personally learning about what our relatives went through. Those with dead family like Darius and my best friend Mayliee, who were learning about what the family they never got to meet were like typically got the most out of it, but I felt as though I got a ton out of it as well. I was being able to learn about The Girl On Fire and The Boy With The Bread without enduring any breakdowns or panic attacks like when I tried to talk to my parents. Another bonus was the once a month lesson with had Larissa, a young twenty-something athlete who'd gives us a physical, practical lesson, such as learning how to use weapons, hunting for food in a scarce area, doing our own pretend interviews to learn what attracted sponsors and really any other skills that would have been helpful if we were entering The Hunger Games ourselves, which was always enjoyable.

I beat some flour and eggs in with the crushed berries and added fresh goats milk from my pet goat Millie just as the front door open, and Darius and I both turn to find my dad walking in.

"Hey dad." I say halfheartedly.

I strongly appreciate the fact that he takes a moment to say good morning to both Darius and I, hugs me tightly, plants a kiss on my cheek and offers to help with the pie, even though I know getting upstairs to check on mum is the only real thing on his mind.

"I think we can manage." I smile at him, knowing that was the answer he was hoping for.

"Okay then." He nods, then lowers his voice as so not to be overheard. "Is your mother alright?"

I shrug.

"She had another nightmare not long ago. I think she's asleep now."

"Alright I'll go check on her. Have you fed the animals?"

"No. I'll do that in a moment."

Dad left the kitchen and headed up the stairs. I mixed in the remaining ingredients and set the pie to cook, then went off in search of my cat Toscha, who ended up to be hiding underneath the couch in the living room. I fed her a handful of cat food before I headed into the backyard with Darius where the rest of my animals were kept.

I'd always had a massive love for animals. Something about the way they never judged anyone, their loyalty and compassion, the way you can always go crying to them and they'll always be there to listen, it was just comforting. I loved the way my friendship with all my animals didn't come attached with the curiosity of what it was like to be Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark's child, which was basically why most people tried to become my friend. I think my parents understand that and that reason, combined with the fact that they have more money then they'll ever know what to do with, is why they've practically bought me any animal I've asked for my whole life.

I fed Millie as well as my horses Molly and Ebony, my elderly dog Nonnie, my sheep Trippie, and the newest addition to my personal little farm, my three piglets, whom my parents had brought for me a few months back on my fourteenth birthday. They were the cutest things ever.

Before we went back inside I walked right out to the edge of the garden where a large pond sat, filled with all sorts of creatures that Darius, fishing expert, was always catching for me, things like turtles, crabs and a whole variety of fish. I tossed some crusty old bread in, even though the sea animals didn't need to be fed as they fed themselves off plants and other tiny species that lurked in the pond, but I still liked to toss food in for them every now and then.

As we headed back in the direction of the house I gave my goat one more pat. I hated showing favoritism in any situation, but I did care for my goat the most. I knew that my Aunt Prim, someone I never got to meet but had heard so much about, got a goat as a present from mum, just as I did, and somehow that made me feel connected to her.

Dad was back from checking on mum when we reentered the house, and he was fluffing around the kitchen making tea.

Instinctively seeing my dad's glare, Darius dropped the hand of mine that he was holding and sidestepped, putting a little distance between us.

"So you too got any plans for the day?" He asked, his face relaxing now them we were no longer displaying affection.

"We were going to make plans." I said flatly. "Then we remembered we had a Mockingjay assignment."

"Do you guys want any help?"

I shot him a fake smile.

"Oh can you do it for us?"

Dad returned my pretend beam.

"Nope! I'm pretty sure that's not what I was offering."

I let out an over exaggerated groan.

"Fine! Help us then!"

"What's the assignment?" He asked, taking my pie out of the oven for me.

"I don't know." I mumble, searching through my school bag which sat discarded next to the front door. I yanked out a piece of paper, and skimmed over it. "We have to write a thousand word report on someone who died in the 3rd Quarter Quell."

Darius let out another groan.

"Ugh. Everyone's just going to do their family members. No one in our class has any impulse to ever learn about anyone other than their own family." He complained.

Dad gave a small smirk.

"Well you two don't have that option do you? None of your family died in the Quarter Quell."

"Then who do you suggest we do?" I asked, re-reading the assignment.

Dad's smirk broadened into a general smile.

"I've got three women you could choose from. They all gave their lives in the arena, and they played a serious role in getting your mother and I out of there alive."

**So who do you think Peeta is talking about? Please review guys! Xxxx **


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm soooooooooooo sorry for not updating for like three days I've been really busy! I am so so so so so so sorry! Okay here is chapter three **

Chapter Three

Dad's statement sparked my attention.

"Three women?" I echoed. "Three women died, but saved you and mum at the same time?"

"That's right." Dad replied casually. "Basically-"

He stopped silent and his gaze fell behind Darius and I.

Naturally, we both turned to see where he was looking, just in time to see mum stumbling down the stairs.

"Morning Katniss." Dad chimed.

"Good morning." She mumbled back.

Before mum could catch a glimpse the assignment sheet was back in my schoolbag.

Probably not the best thing to shove in her face after a nightmare.

Dad proceeded to cut up the pie and shared it around, going about making casual remarks like 'gosh I'm tired' or 'the whether seems nice today', all of which mum responded to with no more than a nod or shake of her head, or a shrug of her shoulders.

"We should go see Mayliee." Darius suggested to me after breakfast once mum and dad had left to go sit in the living room and we were alone in the kitchen. "She could probably use your dad's help with this assignment too."

I spooned the final mouthful of pie into my mouth and gathered both of our plates then gently set them down in the sink.

"Okay." I agreed. "Pepper and Terina9* probably won't be much help to her."

I grabbed my small shoulder back off the kitchen counter. It was filled with first aid supplies, snacks, water and a second phone, all things I was only allowed to use in the event of an emergency. My parents never let me go anywhere without it, not even to my best friend Mayliee or Uncle Haymitch's houses, which were just down the street.

Sometimes it was hard not to get frustrated with how ridiculously over protective my parents were, but then I have to remember what they went through, how much was snatched from them and how petrified they are that they'll one day lose my brother and I as well, and then it was hard to blame them.

I crossed the kitchen and popped my head into the living room. My parents were both slumped over the couch blankly starring at the TV. Dad's arm was protectively wrapped around mum and her head was resting delicately on his shoulder.

"Darius and I are just heading to Mayliee's place." I told them. "We won't be any longer then about fifteen minutes, we're just going to see if she wants to come over and work on the Mockingjay assignment with us."

Dad nodded but mum barely acknowledged the fact that I was even standing there, which wasn't unusual on mornings after really bad nights. Typically she was fairly distant for the first hour or two, only interacting with my dad and no one else.

I turned and headed for the front door as dad shouted out after me "only to Mayliee's. Come back and tell us if you're going anywhere else."

"Yes dad I know the drill!" I yelled back.

I grabbed a hair tie from one of the pockets of my school back just as Darius and I headed out the front door. As we walked down the gravel road of Victors Village I began braiding my pure blonde hair until it sat in a perfect side braid.

We crossed the front lawn of the house right next door to ours, the home that belonged to Uncle Haymitch. The next house belonged to Darius and Annie, and the house after that was Mayliee's. Years and years ago the Victors Villages in all Districts were opened up to family of anyone who fought in any of the 75 Hunger Games, regardless of whether they survived or not, hence why Mayliee's family was permitted to live here.

Mayliee and her family moved to Twelve shortly after the rebellion war had finished and people from Districts were free to live where they pleased instead of just in their district. Mayliee met Darius and I only the first day of kindergarten and we'd been inseparable ever since. I'd only ever known that Mayliee didn't have a mum or a dad and that she lived with her aunt Pepper and an adopted mother. But once I was old enough to start learning mum and dad's story, I began to learn Mayliee's and my love for her increased. Like Darius, mum and dad had long ago started thinking of Mayliee as another child, had practically adopted her into our family.

Mayliee was the daughter of the teenage parents Clove and Cato, who also happened to be the District Two tributes in the 74th Hunger Games. Clove and Pepper, Pepper who had been only six at the time, had been raised in an abusive orphanage, a place where they got abused, neglected and starved. At the tender age of just fourteen Clove had fallen pregnant, and Cato, who had been her boyfriend for two years at that point, kept trying to help her and Pepper run away from the orphanage so they could move in with him, but every time they just got dragged back by peacekeepers and beaten as punishment. Soon Clove started refusing any attempts to sneak out, because she couldn't bear to watch poor little Pepper be abused anymore, not to mention every time she was bashed her baby, Mayliee, suffered.

Nine months later, the poor thing was forced to give birth in that awful place, with only a few other fourteen and fifteen year old girls attempting to help deliver.

Clove made the decision one month later, at the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games, to volunteer. Clove had long ago given up caring about her own life, but the victoring Hunger Games was her last shot at getting the money needed to get her sister and her daughter away from the haunting home for kids. What she didn't know until the day was Cato was planning to volunteer as well, so that he could protect her and made sure she got out alive, partly because he loved her, partly because he knew Pepper, who he loved like his own little sister, was too little suffer a loss like losing her older sister, especially since she had no parents, and partly because of course he needed to make sure his daughter wasn't raised in the pathetic excuse for an orphanage, since he couldn't prove he was her father and they refused to hand her over to him.

Mum and dad knew none of this while they battled for their lives in the arena and only saw Cato and Clove's ruthless, vicious killings as typical career behavior and not a desperate attempt to give their daughter a half decent life. And when they had learned the story of the second pair of Star-Crossed-Lovers, I don't know how much they were affected, only that it really had re-enforced the truth that at the end of the day everyone in the arena was just a scared little child.

The truth behind Cato and Clove's fierce external was most likely just another scar.

The tragic story didn't end with a cannon and a picture in the sky however. Pepper and Maylie were both adopted out not long after the 74th Hunger Games by Terina, Cato's twenty year old sister. She moved them to Twelve two years later, a place where she felt they could all get away from the constant reminders that Clove and Cato were no longer with them.

Darius took my hand in his as we crossed the lawn and knocked on the door. Mayliee opened the door a few moments later.

A pretend scowl settled on her face.

"Oh it's you two." She joked. "Well that was waste of a trip to the door."

"Nice to see you too May." Darius returned.

"Do you want to come hang at mine?" I offered. "Dad's going to help us with that dumb Mockingjay assignment so we can knock it out of the way."

Mayliee let out her signature groan that she automatically associated with homework.

"Fine!" She cried after a few seconds. "Pepper I'm going to Penny's!"

Without waiting for a response she stepped outside and let the door slam behind her.

**Okay guys please review! I love reviews! Thanks guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay guys I'm sooooo sorry for the delay in the update my Internet wigged out on me. And just in case you're wondering, not having internet for almost two weeks is the worst things in the world. Okay guys, sorry again **

Chapter Four

"I'm home mum and dad!" I dried as Darius, Mayliee and I walked through the front door.

"Penny's home!" I heard my four year brother Mitchy trill from the living room. He skipped in tightly hugging a dirty plate with blueberry pie smudged all over his face.

"Give me that." I laughed, taking the plate from his grasp and placing it in the sink. I grabbed a few tissues from the kitchen counter and cleaned up his face before offering pie to Mayliee, which she hungrily accepted. I knew when Mayliee and Pepper were younger feeding them at least three times a day had been Terina's biggest priority, but now with two children of her own and Mayliee and Pepper much older, they were often expected to find their own meals, which for Mayliee usually meant coming over here.

Which my parents of course never minded. As I said, Darius and Mayliee were just like two additional kids to them.

"Good morning Mayliee." My father's chirpy voice made us turn to where he was entering the kitchen from the living room.

"Morning Peeta." She returned. "Did you bake this pie or did Penny?"

"Oh I did." Dad said, shooting me a cheeky grin.

"You did not!" I cried.

"I took it out of the oven which is technically where it was baked." He argued playfully. "You only made the batter."

"Whoever did what, it's really good." Mayliee said with a mouthful of food.

She finished the rest of the pie within the following few minutes while Darius and I set up all of our assignment stuff on the kitchen table.

"What do we have to do again?" Mayliee asked, placing her plate in the sink with Mitchy's and joining us at the table.

"Mitchy go find mummy." Dad instructed before I could answer. It was only when he was out of ear shot that I turned back to my best friend.

"We have to do a thousand words on someone who died in the Quarter Quell."

"Egh, I hate essays so much." She whined.

"Well Peeta said something about having three women we could do." Darius said, pointing to my dad who was also taking a seat. "That's one for each of us."

"Darius I can do basic maths." She shot back. "I'm not that dumb."

"It's okay Mayliee." I joined in. "Because dad's going to give us all the information on all three women so we don't have to do any research."

Dad waved a finger at me.

"Again, I think we have different definitions of the phrase, 'I will help you.' "

I let out an annoyed and overly exaggerated groan, then reached into my school bag which I'd dragged to my feet and made a big show of tugging out my massive Mockingjay textbook.

"Have you seen the size of this?" I demanded, plonking it on the table.

"Why yes I have." Dad nodded causally.

"Are you really going to make us read this?"

"Not all of it. Just the relevant information."

"And how are we supposed to know where the relevant information is kept?"

"Well." Dad smiled and reached for the book, slid it across the table so if was sitting in front of him and flopped open the cover. "They have this really cool new invention called a contents page."

"Well how are we supposed to know what it's going to be listed under?"

"Well." His smile widened as he flipped and skimmed through the four pages of contents. He stopped randomly and pressed his finger halfway down the page. "I'd try looking under the heading titled 'The Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games'."

"Ahh see you're smart. This is why you should do it."

"Nice try darling, you're still doing your own homework." He remarked, sliding the book back to me.

I groaned again and flipped over to page 478, the page number listed beside the heading in the contents page.

I was straight away greeted with a big blown up photo of my parents when they were much younger in wetsuits of some kind, and lots of other smaller pictures of other people, some of who I recognized, some of whom I didn't.

"Wow." I laughed. "Look at what you can find using that amazing new invention."

"Incredible right?" Dad laughed back.

On the first double page there were profiles on a women named Cashmere and a man named Gloss, who were the tributes of District One. I looked at dad who shook his head, indicating this Career chick clearly wasn't one of our three.

I turned the page to find profiles on the other half of the Career pack, Enobaria and Brutus, but my dad again shook his head.

When I flipped over to the District Three tributes, Wiress and Beetee, the first thing I couldn't help but notice was that the women looked a teensy bit crazy.

So needless to say, I was a little taken back when dad cried "Stop! That women there, Wiress, she's first on the list."

I knew by parents story in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games back to front and inside out, but this assignment was only the introduction to our Mockingjay class's study on the Quater Quell, so I didn't known a whole lot about it. Actually, I knew practically nothing about it other then the arena turned out to be structured like a clock, and I only knew this because mum often woke up screaming 'tick tock' or 'the arena's a clock.'

"Her? But she looks bonkers!" Mayliee blurted.

"You know what you need?" Darius glared at her. "A censor in your brain that tells you what to say out loud and what to keep in your head. Everyone else seems to have one!"

In response Mayliee screwed up her nose at him, but dad cut her off before she could verbally reply.

"Don't worry." He laughed. "She wasn't what I'd call a totally sane person, but she was a remarkable women."

He paused, looked up at me, and smiled again.

"You ever wonder where your mother picked up tick tock?"


End file.
